The Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners has settled a lawsuit with James Campbell after it handed him a 90-day ban from meetings for “naming names” of public employees during a public comment period last year.
The county, while not forced to admit any liability or wrongdoing for its actions, acknowledged at its recent commissioners meeting that it incorrectly outlined its public participation policy before removing Campbell from the meeting.
All new county commissioners must also undergo training on the terms and application of its public participation policy, according to attorney Brendan Philbin of the Liberty Justice Center, who represented Campbell in the case.
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Philbin told Carolina Public Press that he and Campbell were pleased with the terms of the settlement.
“I think it affirms the reasons why the First Amendment was put in place,” Philbin said.
“Particular to this case is ... that Mr. Campbell was commenting on allegations of corruption within the county. To me, there's probably very few more important matters of public interest than that.”
The incident at the center of the settlement took place at a commissioners meeting on April 15, 2024, during which Campbell and several other residents spoke about their negative experiences with the county’s child protective services.
In his speech during the public comment period, Campbell named several DSS employees and contractors, to which Commissioner Kenneth Wortman objected.
Wortman cited a policy against “naming names,” which isn’t actually a part of the county’s public participation policy. After Campbell continued on with his speech, then-board chair Steve Morris had him removed by sheriff’s deputies.
Campbell was subsequently banned from attending future meetings for 90 days, but he sued, alleging that the commissioners had violated his right to free speech under the First Amendment.
Cabarrus County spokesperson Jonathan Weaver didn’t respond to a request for comment about the settlement before publication of this article.
Elsewhere across the state, local governments have attempted to limit how residents may address their concerns in public meetings. The Liberty Justice Center recently filed a lawsuit against the City of Monroe for its policy requiring residents to list their full home address before they speak during the public comment period of City Council meetings.
“North Carolina law requires governing councils to allow public comment on a monthly basis,” Pate McMichael, director of the North Carolina Open Government Coalition, said.
“It does not afford those councils the authority to compel speech — or censor speakers on certain topics. State law gives public councils the authority to maintain order and decorum, but that’s not a blank check to silence criticism. The resolution of this case makes the state’s democracy stronger.”
North Carolinians should know they have the right to comment on matters of public interest, Philbin said.
“I think it's an important tool that we have as Americans to make sure that our government is accountable to us.”
This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.